Orissa Review
Tribal Communication Technology: A case Study
of Kondhs of Kandhamal of Odisha
Don’t embrace technology for technology’s sake. Use commonsense to determine when
to use new media and when to use more traditional methods. It’s great to have electronic
relationships, but we always need old fashioned human contact.
Introduction:
Communication is universal to all human
beings and is central to our lives. In fact, it regulates
and shapes all human behaviour. Dreaming, talking
with someone, arguing in a discussion, speaking
in a public, participating in a traditional cultural
function, escape from a beast, alert to the people
at time of danger, reading of a newspaper,
watching television, browsing internet etc are
different kinds of communication that we are
engaged in every day. It means we are constantly
exchanging our thoughts, ideas and motions with
someone or other either to satisfy our physical,
emotional or other needs or to get work done. It
is obvious that communication is an integral part
of one’s life. In fact, society cannot survive in the
absence of communication.
Communication is more than mere
transferring or transmission of ideas or thoughts.
It is dynamic process of action and interaction
towards a desired goal. Communication is,
therefore, a process of sharing or exchange of
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Ramakanta Mahananda
-Moshe Triwaks.
ideas, information, knowledge, attitude or feeling
among two or more persons through certain signs
and symbols. Communication is vital for human
existence and for the progress of humanity. No
person, group or society can exist without
interaction with others. Being at the heart of all
social action and interaction, communication
functions as a relating tool that creates
understanding, facilitates work and strengthens
collective living among people. Rapidly, we
approach the final phase of the extensions of man-
the technological stimulations of consciousness,
when the creative process of knowing will be
collectively and corporately extended to the whole
of human society. Human beings are engaged in a
variety of communication process; intrapersonal,
interpersonal, group and mass communication, the
last one being unique in the sense that it differs
somewhat from other forms of communication
because of a mechanical device interposed
between sender and receiver. One way to analyse
communication is to present it in the form of a
model. A model is nothing but the mechanistic
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perspective of human communication that
effectively tells at a glance how it works. In a
communication process there has to be a sender
whose main intention is to communicate a
message; what to convey is his/her thinking
process; how to communicate a message is his/
her choice of right means or channel; and whom
to convey the message is his/her job to decide.
The sender also needs to know the receiver’s
response to the message, whether or not it is being
received as intended. Then only can the sender
proceed further with the next act of
communication and in this way it goes on and on.
In this interaction process, there is an
interdependence of relationship among the various
variables of human communication.
Communication programme should always be
planned and based on the needs of the target
audience.
Primitive Tribes of Odisha :The Kondhs :
Orissa is one of the most fascinating
ethnographic states of India. The Kondhs form
numerically is the largest group among the 62
tribes of Orissa. Customarily they were once
famous for their brutal acts of human sacrifice
(Maria sacrifice) to achieve the end products of
bumper crops and killing of infants for better yield
of turmeric. There are various sections among the
Kondhs or Kandhas. Each section is
endogamous though originally they hail from the
same Kandha community. The Dongria Kondh
of Koraput district and Kutia Kondh of Belghar
area of Kandhamal district represent the primitive
section. The primitive sections are shifting
cultivators. The Dongria kondhs are expert
horticulturists. Tatoo faced and Desia Kondhs are
settled agriculturists. Racially the Kondhs relate
more closely to the proto-Austroloid stock with
considerable Mongoloid admixture. They are
divided into two logistic groups i.e. Kui and Kuvi.
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Orissa Review
However the primitive section of the Kondhs
communities are found largely in the district of
Kandhamal and Koraput districts. The dress
worn by the Kondhas is not keeping with their
environment. They use some covering on the
body, of course , to withstand the cold, yet their
way of life has made them conditioned to the local
climate which indirectly help them maintain their
traditional grab. The Kondh women wear two
cloths, one around the waist up to the knees and
another for the upper portion of the body. The
Kutia Kondhs men wear only loin cloth. The
Dongria men puts on a cloth called “ KODI”,
16 ft in length and one ft in width. The Kondh
women are very fond of ornaments. Among the
Dongria Kondhs, the women beautify themselves
with hair pins, ear rings, nose rings, and head
necklaces. Wrist-lets and ear rings are used by
the males of the primitive section of the Kondh
communities. The males too , like to grow long
hair and tie this into a knot at their nape in a
traditional fashion. The Kutia Kondhs tatoo their
faces and hands, where as the Dongrias do not.
They have well developed dormitories for boys
and girls among the primitive sections.
They are very fond of drinking Salap palm
juice and dead palm juice (Tadi). Local herbs and
roots are added to the juice to increase its
alcoholic contents. Sometimes Mahua flowers are
collected and liquor is prepared to meet the
requirement on special occasion. Liquor is
considered as food and at the same time a
ritualistic food to satisfy deities and spirits.It is
considered as a social necessity by the Kondhs
and therefore consumed by them irrespective of
sex and age. The Kondhs are agriculturist. They
generally produce cash crops like turmeric, ginger,
mustard, niger, black gram, arrowroot etc. The
Dongria section of the Kondh communities are
expert horticulturist and produce fruits like
bananas, pine apple, orange, jack fruits etc. The
Orissa Review
primitive section keep buffaloes for sacrifice, but
the Desia Kondhs mainly use the buffaloes for
ploughing their field. Barter system is still the
method of exchange among the Kondhs. The
Kondhs believe in “Dharani” the earth goddess-
the supreme being. She is all powerful and the
highest of all deities. She is represented by a block
of stone erected in a hut. She is responsible for
the growth of vegetation and other produce of
land. She used to be satisfied with human blood
which was called “Maria” by the Dongria
section and “toki” puja by the Kutia section of
the Kondh community. This custom has been
suppressed since long by the Bristishers and in
lieu of it buffalo is sacrificed at present. The Kondh
worshippers of ancestors are called “DUMBAS”.
These ancestor spirits appear in dreams when
they desire to receive periodic worship. There
are various deities and spirits who are different in
different localities inhabited by the various sections
of the Kondh. Apart from these spirits they
believe in the existence of ghosts. They are
controlled by shamans. They also believe in white
and black magics. They are fatalists and believe
in chance and luck. They celebrate various
festivals round the year for better yield of crops.
Two festivals such as Chaitra parab observed
before sowing paddy and other millets and
“Meriah” or “Kedu” festival in the month of
February / March are the most important. The
Dongria Kondhs exhibit their talents in their art
and crafts.
The Kondhs are Dravidian People but no
mythology as legend yet discovered which furnish
due to their origin or place of descent. They
believe themselves to have existed in Orissa from
the beginning. Their forbears were probably
driven from their homes or the richer lineal plains
of eastern India during the Aryan advance,
preferring hardship to loss of independence, it is
through that they were forced up into the wild hill
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tracts of the Eastern Ghats many centuries ago.
Now the Kondh people are spread out through
eastern region. Broadly, the Kondhs are divided
into mainly three groups depending upon their
habitat. The groups are Kutia Kondhs, Dongria
Kondh and Desia Kondh. The Kondh people
are simple in nature and very innocent. However,
they are living very simple way of life. Although
few Kondhs claim that they belong to Dongaria
section but most of the people identify themselves
as ‘Kondhs’ irrespective of their section i.e. Kutia
or Desia. Importance has been given in this paper
to Kutia and Desia Kondhs of Kandhamals of
Orissa. The Kondh (pronounced locally as
Kandha and spelt earlier as Khond, Kond, etc)
are a population of primitive tribe of Orissa. They
occupy mountainous areas of Central-Southern
part of the state. The Desia name is assumed by
those who live in the plateau, in the neighbourhood
of non-tribal people who improved their economy
and living condition. The Kutia occupies the
highland; practiced shifting or hill slope cultivation
in primitive method and live in poor condition.
The habitat of Kondh people is locally known as
Kandhamal, meaning hills of the Kondh.
Area of Study:
The ancient history of Kandhamal district
of Orissa may be traced back to the 3 rd Century
B.C. It finds mention as an unconquered Atavika
country fields in the Kalinga Rock Edicts of the
legendary Mauryan Emperor, Ashok. This
mountainous Atavika rajya unquestionably
encompassed the Kandhamal region. Some
historians are of the view that Mahakantar
subdued by the Gupta Emperor, Samudragupta,
in the 4th century A.D., during his Dakshinapatha
Campaign, included Kandhamal area and he led
his victorious army to the south from Kosala and
Kural through this district. He defeated some kings
in Ganjam.
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The present Kandhamal district is made
up with some segments of three erstwhile
principalities of Boudh, Ghumsar and Khemundi,
reigned by the Bhanjas and the Gangas from
ancient times. Their reign came to an end when
the British came to this region in the nineteenth
century.
G.Udayagiri constituted the northern
fringe of Ghumusara kingdom of the Bhanjas.
They occupied this state in the 9th Century and
continued to rule over it till 1835. Ganjam came
under the Britishers in 1765. The Bhanjas could
not put up with their interference and aggressive
attitude from the very beginning and they raised
the banner of revolt frequently against the British.
The Kondhas and the Paikas forming the
Ghumusar army waged relentless wars under the
able leadership of Dohara Bissoyi from 1815 to
1835. Deposing Dhananjay Bhanja for his habitual
recalcitrance the British occupied Ghumusar on
November 3,1835. Dhananjaya Bhanja died at
G.Udayagiri in December of the same year as a
fugitive.
Balliguda region was under the Gangas
of Kandhamal, most probably from the 10th
Century and the dynasty ruled over these hilly
tracts till the 19th century. British captured this
area in phases from 1830 to 1880 by subjugating
some hill chiefs, who were the protégés of the
Gangas. Ghumusar and Balliguda regions were
under the uninterrupted reign of the Bhanjas and
Gangas, respectively, for about a millennium. But
the Kandhamal area, which was part of Boudh,
witnessed a chequered history during the same
period.
The present Kandhamal sub-division was
an integral part of Boudh from time immemorial
till 1855. The earliest history of this area is gleaned
from a number of copper-plate inscriptions issued
by the kings of the early Bhanja dynasty, that
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reigned over Boudh and Kandhamal in the 8th
and 9th Century. Their kingdom was known as
Khinjali Mandala. From the 10th Century to the
advent of British in this region, Boudh, including
Kandhamal, has been governed in succession by
the following royal dynasties: the Somavansis, the
Chindak Nagas/Telugu Chodas, the Kalachuris
and the Bhanjas. The history of Boudh-
Kandhamal for 500 years prior to the coming of
the British is however, still nebulous.
The Britishers launched a vigorous
campaign in these hilly tracts with the objectives
of annexing the areas to their empire and
suppressing the abdominable practice of human
sacrifice, then prevalent among the Kondhas.
The Britishers encountered stiff resistance from
the tribal’s for a prolonged period of 20 years
from 1835 to 1855. As the Boudh Raja utterly
failed to curb the horrendous ritual of the tribal,
the British truncated a large area, where the
Kondhas were predominant, from Boudh on
February 15,1855 and named this newly annexed
territory as Kandhamal. After British conquest of
Uttar Ghumasar (G.Udayagiri area) and Uttar
Khemundi (Balliguda area) these territories were
placed under the administration of the Collector
of Ganjam district. These areas remained under
the control and adminstration of the British until
India attained her independence.
Kandhamal remained a Tahasil from 1855
to 1891 and it was administered by a Tahasildar
under the direct control and supervision of the
superintendent of the Tributary mahals of Cuttack.
In 1891, it was upgraded to sub-division and
tagged with Anugul district. When the new
province of Orissa was formed in 1936, and
Ganjam was merged with Odisha, from the
Madras presidency, Kandhamal became a sub-
division of Ganjam. In the wake of the
amalgamation of the princely states with Orissa
Orissa Review
in January 1948, Boudh and Kandhamal
constituted the new district of Boudh-Kandhamal,
with its headquarters at Phulbani. Balliguda sub-
division was added to Boudh-Kandhamal district
on 1.1.1949. With the secession of Boudh from
Phulbani district as a separate district only
Balliguda and Kandhamal sub-divisions remained
with Phulbani district, which was later rechristened
as Kandhamal in June,1994. The district of
Kandhamal ranks as one of the most backward
districts of the 69 identified most backward
districts of independent India. The proposed study
was conducted in the Nuagaon village of Kotagarh
block of Kandhamal district. Kandhamal district
is stretched between 19’34 & 20’36 degree
latitude in the north and 83’34 & 84’34 longitude
in the east, with an area of 7649 sqkm. It
constitutes 2 sub-divisions, 12 Community
Development Blocks, 2 NACs, 153 Gram
Panchayats and 2515 villages. The total
population of the district is 6,48,200 out of which
ST population comprises of 51.96 %. The
physiographic of the entire district lies with a high
altitude zone with inter-spreading inaccessible
terrain of hilly ranges and narrow valley tracts,
which guides in general the socio-economic
conditions of the people and the development of
the district.
The district of Kandhamal is bestowed
with the beauty of nature. It has wild life, scenic
beauty, healthy climate, and serpentine ghat roads
for the tourists who need to relax and unwind. It
has attractions, like panoramic coffee gardens,
pine jungles,Ghat roads, hills and water falls, virgin
forest and typical tribal village life. Almost 66%
of the land area of the district is covered with
dense forest and towering mountains which
provide shelter to the inhabitants like Kondhas,
classified under the ancient Gondid race of proto
Austroloid group, rich in green meadows at the
altitude of 2000 ft to 3000 ft, the terraced valleys
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thronged with these colorful tribals in their natural
heritage, dancing and sporting has its own appeal.
Kandhamal is also famous for handicrafts such
as Dokra, Terra-cotta, Cane and Bamboo works.
The region is proud of its rich cultural heritage.
Mauryan Emperor Ashoka mentioned in Jaugada
(Ganjam) edict about the people of this hill tract
as Atavikas who practised their own religion. The
ghat tract of Kandhamal “Kalinga” was known
to the travellers of Medieval history. The tract was
used for the transportation of salt to the central
India. Again the route running through Daringibadi
was known in history as Great Military road
discovered by Britishers who happened to come
over Daringibadi for pleasure trips to enjoy the
natural beauty and cool climate during summer.
Communication techniques of Kondhs of
Kandhamal can be divided into four main
categories. i.e
(i) Ancient Communication Techniques
(ii) Traditional Communication Techniques
(iii) Oral Communication Techniques
(i) Ancient Communication Techniques :
Better than shouting:
Communication begins with language, the
distinctive ability which has made possible the
evolution of human society. With language any
message, no matter how complex, can be
conveyed between people over a limited distance
- within a room or place of assembly, or across a
short open space. In modern times ‘town criers’
hold an annual contest to discover which of them
can shout a comprehensible message over the
greatest distance. The world record is less than
100 metres. Already, at that short range, a more
practical alternative is to run with the message.
The invention of writing and in particular of
alphabetic writing marked a milestone in cultural
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development. It provided humanity with a new
means of communication that literally inscribed in
stone, the spoken word. Communication could
now span both space and time. Space, because
writing could be sent from one place to another.
Time, because writing could preserve the words
for generations to come. Since the art of writing
was discovered, nearly every form of writing
material has been used. Some were intended to
ensure permanence while others were simple and
inexpensive but temporary. From the wax notepad
of the schoolboy to the grand inscriptions on
monuments, almost everything we know about
antiquity is derived from writings such as those
written on animals, vegetables and minerals.
Stone: Stone was mainly used for writing on
permanent monuments and public buildings. The
writing on stone usually requires the use of
hammer and chisel. The most comfortable,
accurate and hence productive manner of carving
stone inscriptions is to hold the chisel in one hand
and hit it with the hammer held in the other hand.
Although this sounds like too simple an
explanation, one must consider that as most
people are right handed then there would be a
tendency to cut the letters from right to left.
Metal : Sheets of metal were rarely used for
writing or are rarely found. For one, they were
expensive to manufacture and secondly, the metal
was often re-smelted for use as weapons in times
of war, so few sheets remain. More commonly,
bronze tablets and copper sheets were used to
provide semi-permanence and could be stored
more easily than cumbersome rock.
Wood: The use of wood as a writing medium was
strictly confined to temporary purposes and not
many such tablets have survived through antiquity,
as the climate in state is not conducive to their
preservation. In antiquity, wooden boards were
used for displaying public announcements. They
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Orissa Review
were whitened boards that could be sign written
and when the message became out of date the
board could easily be whitewashed and rewritten.
The qualities of slaves would be written on such
boards and they would be made to stand under
them while being paraded for sale.
(ii) Traditional Communication Techniques
of Subsistence stategies and Settlement
pattern:
Subsistence and settlement of the Kondhs
belongs to traditional communication techniques.
They used different techniques for settle down in
a place and searching for mode of subsistence.
The term subsistence economy is explicitly defined
in it’s social sciences. It is employed principally in
connection with rural societies in technologically
poorly developed countries and is often
synonymous with the term subsistence farming and
subsistence agriculture. In the field of
Anthropology of application of the term to
primitive hunting and gathering society would
however also be meaningful as an economy
providing bare subsistence (M.J. Herskovits,
1940). Economy as the way in which resources
technology and work are combined to satisfy the
material requirements of human beings and of
social groups.
Settlement Pattern Techniques:
Every place there is a history of first
settlers like that of nomenclature. One area
became a place of habitations when a group of
people migrated from one place to some other
places and settle down permanently. According
to the Kondhs of Kandhamal district, once open
a time they were living on the top of the hill. They
were migrated from the top of the nearby hill due
to searching of a new place where they led a
healthy life. The descent of the located Kondh
villager of the area were Kutia Kondhs, who were
living in the dense forest; but now they are
Orissa Review
identifying themselves as Adivasi or Kondh.
Another reason of migration is due to poverty and
their home land declared as reserve forest by the
Forest Department.
House Pattern :The houses of Kondhs are of
linear pattern and the two rows of house flanked
by a wide street. The people like to live in
thatched houses. The settlement of an individual
is permanent in his plot. However all the houses
of the village are situated line by line facing each
other. The houses are rectangular in shape. One
or more double rows of attached house face each
other in a rectangular space.
The Roof: The roof is made of straw. The
thatched roof is constructed with a long bamboo
beam at the apex of the roof. To this beam
bamboo clubs are attached. These sticks are
attached in vertical manner to the beam while other
bamboo sticks are tied to these clubs in a
horizontal manner. On such a frame of bamboo
beam with a network of bamboo sticks bundles
of paddy straw are spread for making the roof.
The roof is made of paddy straw. The roof is
culminated by two slopes or four slopes of every
house.
Wall : In Nuagoan village most of the walls are
mud, mud bricks and lateritic stone. It is plastered
by mud, cow dung and clay. They also decorate
it by different colours; epecially lightly red and
white. The stones are available near the forest
and they collect it by themselves. The bricks are
made by them.
Floor : The floor is made of stone chips and clay
like that wall. It is plain and smooth. The people
of Nuagoan plastered the floor by cow dung
everyday.
Doors and Window :The door is essential to
enter in a house. Almost all the houses have only
one in front side of the house. Some house have
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doors in the inner side. The inner side door usually
leads to the storage house. The doors are made
of wooden planks which are prepared from teak
wood and Sal wood. Some doors are made of
bamboo sticks also. The windows are absent in
most of the houses. But there are skylight found
in each and every house. Most of the houses are
divided into general room, storage room and
verandah in the front side and found neat and
clean.
Vegetational area : Vegetation area is located
on the back side of the house. They raise
boundary around the house by some bamboo
sticks or sal sticks or beam and other materials.
They cultivate chilly, maize, pumpkin, papaya,
cucumber etc in their vegetational area.
Garbage : The people of Nuagoan use garbage.
The garbage area is kept away from the house.
Some are in the vegetation corner and some are
near the field. They throw the waste materials to
the garbage. They collect any types of tree leaves
and throw it into the garbage. The cow dung,
goat dung and pig dung are also kept in the village
garbage.
Cow shed : The villagers of Nuagoan keep their
cow, goat and pig in a common area. The
cowshed is at a little distance from each house of
their habitation. The cowsheds are also situated
in a linear pattern. The floor is not polished. There
is not found a wall like their own house. The
walls of the cowshed are made of bamboo sticks
or sal sticks and the upper part of the houses are
thatched by paddy straw. The floors are made
of either by stone or by slice wood along with
mud. There are four pillars in each cowshed. As
a whole the cowshed is open wall in linear
pattern. But the goats and chickens are kept in
the verandah. They collect the cow dung every
day and clean the cowshed. Only there is a gate
to enter into the cowshed. The common cowshed
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of the village is open for all. The cowshed is
separated from their habitation. The cowshed is
also made in a linear pattern and a common place
where the cows are living in the village.
Gathering of fire wood & other forest
products techniques:
Elements of food gathering economy are
still prevailing in several parts of the tribal belts of
Orissa. An example of this economy found among
the Kondhs. Collection of fire wood and forest
products is an old practice and continued till now
by the people of Kandhamal. They learnt the
technique of collection of fire wood and forest
products by their ancestors. Both male and female
go to the forest for gathering purpose. In the
hamlet we can see more number of female going
to the forest for collection of fire wood. The
Kondh people of this district are extremely poor.
When they have no work, they go for gathering
of fire wood and collect the jungle fruit from the
nearby forest. They also depend on forest
because originally they are food gatherers and
hunters. For the collection of fire wood, they go
to nearby forest. They rise early in the morning
and take their breakfast before 7.30AM and set
out for forest. They reach the forest about 9.30
AM. From that time they engage themselves in
cutting and collecting wood up to 5PM. They take
their lunch at their leisure hours. Cutting of fire
wood is done in the forest. After cutting these are
bound in bundles. One bundle contains nearly 15-
20 pieces of wood and they bring it to village on
their head and shoulder. They prepare some rope
from the bark of few trees for their own purpose
and to sell in the local market. Generally young
male and female in the age group of 17 to 45
years are engaged in this work.
There are some rare roofs and tubers
which are not found anywhere except in forest.
These are very much liked by the Kondh people.
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They collect some roots and tubers for medicinal
purpose. The Kondhs avoid to go to the hospital.
They mostly depend on medicinal herbs known
to them.
Hunting techniques :From the ancient days till
the present era hunting as an occupation, prevalent
in almost all societies. Anthropologists normally
applies the term hunter only to the group who
depend primarily upon hunting game for their food.
Hunting was practiced as a means of livelihood
since long past. Before entering into the forest
the hunters divide themselves into two groups,
one group possesses their hunting implements and
other group with some trap(phasa) enter into the
forest. They make different kinds of sounds. Due
to the noise the big animals are compelled to run
at the desired direction of the hunters and they
easily kill them with the help of bow and arrow.
In the second method they go to the jungle and
prepare a platform of wood on the branches of
the tall trees. They call the platform as ‘Mancha’.
From this Mancha they shoot down the animal
from the height. The third method of hunting is by
the help of traps. They are used various types of
traps for hunting different animals. Before the
initiation of hunting the hunter set those trap ready.
Then they go to the other part of the forest and
scare the animals by showing fire, beating drums
and making sounds by other methods when the
animals run away from one part to another part
they fall into the trap. Then they kill the animals
and collect it from the trap. The fourth method of
hunting is that they go to the forest at the evening.
They canceal themselves blind big rocks near
places of water pools and wait animals there to
come to drink. When animal come they shoot
down. All the male members of the village move
for hunting expedition to the forest under the
leadership of a senior person among them.
According to his direction the group start intensive
search of the game. After hunting completed, the
Orissa Review
leader orders to cut the flesh of the animals and
to equally distribute among all the participants
while actual hunter of the animal gets a little more
share. Before they go for the hunting purpose they
observe a special ritual in the name of forest deity
for safety.
Fishing techniques : Fishing is practiced all over
the tribal communities. Some people practice it
for their livelihood and some have practiced it as
hobby. Kondhs of Kandhamal practiced it as their
hobby. They take it as a secondary occupation.
The people like to go for fishing in their leisure
time. There is no particular season for their fishing
purpose but they prefer specially rainy season and
winter seasons. In rainy season ponds, canals and
also cultivated land become filled with water. It is
the most suitable season for fishing. While they
are ploughing their land, the water become muddy
and the fish come out from the bottom of the
water moving here and there. They catch fishes
from the muddy water of the cultivated land which
is used for their own consumption and they devide
into muddy water catching fish with bare hands.
In winter season, they go for harvesting from the
cultivated land and catch the fish after harvesting
the paddy. The fish caught is not a large quantity.
Hence there is no selling of fish. But they exchange
it for another purpose like vegetable. Besides fish
they catch big or small tortoise and crab for eating
purpose. Fish is termed as ‘Minu’ in the Kondh
dialect.
Agricultural technology: Technology refers to
socially standardized techniques associated
artifact or tools. Technology is usually restricted
to the technique of manufacture, maintenance and
manipulation. Some of the traditional agricultural
implements still persist. They are axe, hatchet,
sickle, yoke, plough, crowbar, wooden hammer,
flat basket etc. They get these implements either
from the nearby local market and some of the
implements are also made by them. Rice, being
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the staple food of the villagers, they take utmost
care for the production of paddy. The possession
of paddy lands is a status symbol for the villagers.
The farmers at present, are encouraged to use
scientific methods of agricultural operations to
produce more crops from the same piece of land
for yield. Agricultural production depends open
timely rain, an adequate water management, soil
conservation, modern technology etc. The life style
of the people of Nuagaon is agriculture based.
During the harvesting season the school children
help their family members in the harvesting crops.
The cycle of agriculture among the Kondh is not
different from that of other neighbouring and caste
communities. It starts with the processing of the
field during the month of May-June. Just before
the arrival of South-West monsoon, sowing is
usually done during June while plantation of paddy
becomes necessary at least once, during August
and then they keep vigilant watch on the field till
the harvest in the month of November-December.
They cultivate oil seeds and vegetable after the
harvesting of paddy. Few people are engaged in
summer crops and paddy.
Thus in this study, an attempt has been
made for an ethnographic study of the Kondhs
with special reference to their settlement and
subsistence strategies. At a general comparative
level, the agricultural activities of the Kondhs of
Kandhamal have important implication for
subsistence of Neolithic cultures. What is
necessary now is to make an in-depth study of
subsistence strategies of other ethnic group in
various parts of Orissa for understanding the
subsistence strategies of Prehistoric cultures of
Orissa.
(iii) Oral Communication techniques:
This techniques of Kondhs belong to their
cultural activity. The Kondh people express their
cultural identity and distinctiveness in their social
December - 2011
organisation, language, rituals and festivals and
also in their dress, ornament, art and craft. They
have retained their own way of managing internal
affairs of the village mainly through two institutions
namely, the village council and the youth
dormitory. They believe that their lives and work
are controlled by supernatural beings whose
abode is around them in hills, forests, rivers and
houses. It is very difficult to standardize the Gods
and spirits as their composition continually
changes when old ones are forgotten with the
introduction of new ones. The ceremonies and
festivals of the tribes can be classified into two
groups, that is, those that relate to the individual
families and those that relate to the village as a
whole. The ceremonies and rites relating to birth
of a child, marriage, death are observed family-
wise whereas those relating to various agricultural
cycle, eating of new fruits, hunting, etc. are
observed by the village community. The joy of
free life finds expression in tribal art and craft. It
is through this endeavour their cultural self-image
and aesthetic sensibility are visualized. Kondh
dance is mostly confined to unmarried boys and
girls and free mixing of the sexes is allowed during
dancing. The dances are performed especially
when the boys or girls of one village visit another
village. The dance forms an item in the daily routine
of the Kondh, when the boys and girls in their
dormitories meet after the day’s toil. The girls
dance in lines and the boys dance behind and in
front of them. The girls wear sarees in two pieces
and bangles on their ankles. They dance in rows,
facing rows of boys who sing songs and play on
hand drums. Songs play a very important part in
the dance. Special dances are performed during
buffalo sacrifice, called the Kedu festival. The
artistic skill of the tribal people is not only
manifested in their dance and music but also in
their dress and ornaments, wall-paintings, wood
carvings and decorations, etc. Tribal weekly
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Orissa Review
market or Hat plays an important role of Kondhs
of Kandhamal for their interaction. They go to
nearby village weekly market to sell their forest
produces, vegetables, rice, goat, buffalo, bullock,
cow etc and buy for them necessary household
materials. In the local market they meet other
villagers and discuss with them about different
cultural and social activity and agricultural cycle.
Apart from this, now few of the villagers are
engaged in modern communication techniques
like uses of mobile phone, internet.
The forests, being mixed deciduous,
primarily have a rich growth of Sal trees. The place
takes pride in its natural panoramic view – lush
green woods, cluster of hills, tranquil surroundings
with a rich endowment of flora and fauna and
above all, the tribal societies dwelling in this area.
The uniqueness of the state is truly retained by its
tribal population. They continue to lead a rustic
lifestyle in the lap of nature. These tribal societies
embrace the section of people who understand
the meaning of living together and join hands to
work together to achieve any shared interest to
cater to the benefits of their society. The tribal
groups although have undertaken various forms
of odd jobs at present, yet their basic livelihood
depend on hunting and cultivation. In the past
eras, the tribal land areas were never surveyed
and they did not lead a settled life. The Kondh
people carried out shifting cultivation, taking into
consideration that they were the possessors of
the natural resources like the river, water, forest,
trees and the lush green lands. This practice of
self cultivation still continues till date.
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Anthropology Department of Utkal University.
Orissa Review December - 2011

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